New Stormwater pipe

Hi
I live in rural NSW & have a few plumbing questions.
I'm going to run a stormwater pipe from the edge of my house out to the street. It will carry rainwater from gutters on one side of the house & also waste water from shower and vanity.
1) How deep should I have this in the ground? (only lawn above but will be driven over very occasionally).
2) Is there any need to put a base of sand in the trench or just lay the pipe on the dirt? (gravelly/small rocks)

Any help/ideas appreciated. No council/shire inspectors around here so the law/regulation is not that important.

Thanks Paul

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Originally Posted by ptwelves

1) How deep should I have this in the ground? (only lawn above but will be driven over very occasionally).

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Dunno. This may be affected by local council bylaws. Ignoring code :eek: it depends on how much fall you have to the proposed outlet. When it comes to driving over it: deep good, shallow bad. ;)

Keep in mind that lawn is not a "hard surface" and that cars can and do get bogged on 'em. Trailers/caravans are worse. Run it through a culvert if you're talking semi's. ;)

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2) Is there any need to put a base of sand in the trench or just lay the pipe on the dirt? (gravelly/small rocks)

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Need? No... but it's better practise. Gravel tends to settle more over time than equally compacted sand. 'Tis more likely to form cavities under the pipework, removing support and leading to low points that'll collect sediments which can cause blockages or, in worst cases, breakages. The bedding sand doesn't need to be deep, you can get away with only an inch or so if the trench was dug competently and had appropriate fall.

DANGER DANGER water from shower and vanity is not stormwater. Its sewer.. well grey water that usually goes to sewer or septic.:eek: You can't do it.
Edit Unless you are living in a part of Australia uneffected by drought I would try to utilise this water for the garden instead of directing it to the street.

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Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

DANGER DANGER water from shower and vanity is not stormwater.

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How'd I miss that? :eek::o:rolleyes:

the plumbing code says 100mm cover for single dwellings, no pavement and no vehicular loading. 450mm with vehicular loading.

cheers pulse

By all means have a sewer hooked up but I reckon if you are in rural NSW you should put in a stuffin' big tank and catch your roof water with a separate system for you grey water.....

Conserve conserve conserve oh aint it precious that stuff that falls from the sky.

Pete

I'd go a bit deeper than 100 mm. in a year or 2 you'll plant a rose bush or something over teh top and forget about the pipe, until the shovel goes through it.

probably a bit late for this post as it was back in september but thought i'd throw a few thoughts into the mix

i'm in the middle of gutting all my piping from beneath the house - basically bath running an old 60mm gal which i'll connect to a new pvc, vanity will be a new 50mm pvc, shower a new 100mm pvc and all this going into a 4way riser which will feed into a 100mm pvc pipe that will connect up with the old clay pipe that leads into the gully and then the sewer

i'm looking to try and create a diverter for the 100mm pipe before it hits the sewer - trying to have it so have the option of diverting water to use as grey water or if not needed then onward into the gully and sewer (if anyone has any ideas would be much appreciated)

still to check local council regs - i'm with the others - if you can conserve - conserve - even if in bits and even if partially

and am also with the others - water from the vanity and shower go to the sewer - storm water is for the roofs and gutters (there are also different standards that you need to work with to match pipes with whether they are for sewer or stormwater - from memory i think sewer is AS1560 or something like that)- and with stormwater there again an opportunity to conserve vs having it flow out into the street

i live in inner western sydney and so don't have much space for water holding bits - if i lived in rural areas or somewhere with more space would be looking to conserve as much as i can

hope this helps;)

You can get this sort of diverter box with an inbuilt electric pump.

http://www.wetearth.com.au/Product/P...ngSubCatID=201

ActiuallY think you'd make your own pretty easily and if you are using 100mm pipe you might have to.

100mm pvc for the shower sounds large? Normally the full size of the sewer would only be 100mm.

thanks heaps for the link - pricey little thing - agree with you in trying to work one out for myself

I have seen much cheaper versions but I'd say the price is in the size and quality of the pump. Never used one but the theory looks good given that you can't store grey water.

was chatting to a builder girl the other day - they were saying it was probably best to go down the switch line (she has seen them in different houses on small lots in rural areas) and feed this into submerged piping that waters the garden, lawn, vegie patch, whatever - apparently if you are going to try to use greywater outside reg's requires it to 'leave' whatever system you've set up a few hundred mm's below ground level

i saw a tight little bluescope steel tank the other day that i reckon would fit alongside the house - have to redo the gutters so will check this option out

in the end want to have at least some water conserving measures in place

thanks again OBBob